The top neurosurgeon at Highland Hospital has been suspended and may be charged with a misdemeanor after what authorities called a drunken altercation with sheriff's deputies in an operating room, officials said Thursday.

Deputies believe Dr. Federico Castro-Moure, 45, was intoxicated during the scuffle and prosecutors may charge him with public drunkenness and interfering with a peace officer.

"The deputies felt that he was behaving in an aggressive manner," Alameda County Sheriff's Capt. William Eskridge said. "He was yelling and put a fist in the face of a deputy in a threatening manner."

Neither Castro-Moure nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

The incident began about 8:30 p.m. Monday when Castro-Moure argued with nurses recommending that he wait several hours for sterile equipment to arrive before operating on a spinal patient.

Although Castro-Moure wanted to operate immediately, other hospital personnel believed the surgery could be delayed because the patient was stable enough to wait, said Dr. David Altman, the hospital's chief medical officer.

In such cases, it is the hospital's policy to wait. But Castro-Moure became angry and physically and verbally abusive, officials said. A nurse summoned deputies to the foyer outside the fifth-floor operating room.

When deputies attempted to intervene, Castro-Moure allegedly shouted obscenities and used his arm and clenched fist to keep them at bay, officials said.

Although the deputies arrested Castro-Moure on suspicion of public intoxication -- based upon both his behavior and the smell of alcohol on his breath -- Eskridge said the doctor was so uncooperative that deputies could not adequately test him for intoxication.

"He compromised the test by not blowing the amount of time the test needs to get an accurate reading, but the device did indicate there was some alcohol in his system," Eskridge said.

The unidentified patient was in the emergency room at the time and remained there throughout the incident, officials said. His spinal operation occurred Tuesday morning, and he is recovering satisfactorily, Altman said.

Altman announced Thursday that Castro-Moure has been suspended without pay. Castro-Moure, Highland's head of neurosurgery since 2003, will be barred indefinitely from practicing at the hospital, pending several investigations by the hospital and county health officials, Altman said.

The California Medical Board, which holds licensing power over all doctors in the state, is also expected to investigate. The board could strip Castro-Moure of his license to practice in California.

"I cannot confirm or deny that we have an investigation, because that is not a public record," said Erlinda Suarez, an analyst with the California Medical Board.

"But I can tell you that in any case like this with wide media coverage, we would probably initiate an investigation based on media reports," Suarez said.